The Chariot Parade (Ashby's PoV)

Sage and I waited nervously backstage of the capitol arena.

"You look great," my stylist, Sephana, assured us. For me, she wanted to do something a little different for the outfit, and since they found out that fire didn't work so well nearly twenty years ago, she went with diamonds. I didn't bother to tell her that diamonds aren't really made in district 12, in fear of what she might put me in for "plan B".

I had a short black dress with a diamond belt, necklace, earrings, bracelets, and crown. Jewels were of coarse too girly for Sage, so he was wearing coal powder. His stylist, Axel, thought it would be inappropriate to have a twelve-year-old boy completely naked on national TV, so he was at least wearing black pants.

"Good luck," Axel and Sephana gave us a thumbs up before exiting to the other side. It was only moments before the parade began. I was really glad I was going last and not first.

The pair from one did seem really confident though. The boy had a flashy gold tux, but the girl stood out much more. She wore a big gold Cinderella ball gown with red taffeta fabric underneath and her chocolate colored hair was in large perfect curls. They received a lot of cheers from the audience.

District two was next. They were both in armor. The girl looked fierce and intimidating. The boy kept trying to hold her hand, but she kept smacking it.

Then came three. The nerdy boy was wearing a light up tuxedo. I did like the girls' dress though. The top part was grey and the bubble skirt part was bright yellow, so it looked like a light bulb. She also had a headband that lit up. She looked very nervous, but she did her best to smile and wave.

After that was four. The small girl wore a dark blue sailors dress with a white hat. Her long red hair was put into two fishtail braids. The boy had on navy swim trunks and a fishnet for a cape. The teenage capitol girls were going crazy.

The tributes from five wore simple black clothing and nuclear atom design headdresses.

Six was shocking. Both tributes were wearing powder. Just powder. Exactly what that had to do with transportation, I have no idea. There's a very likely chance that I'm gonna die soon and I would've lived a much happier life had I not seen that.

I quickly darted my eyes over to chariot seven. The girl was wearing a long, sleeveless white dress made entirely out of many layers of tissue paper. The boy had a red flannel shirt and cutoff jean shorts, like a lumberjack. He was in some weird position with his left elbow on his left knee.

Next was district eight. The boy had a white tux with a cape of many fabrics. The girl had a big dress with many layers of different colors and designs. She kept trying to steel the boy's cape and cover her arms with it.

The petite pair from nine had on corncob costumes.

When ten came out the audience went in to mass panic. The girl was so ugly and creepy. I guess the rumors were true that her stylist died after one look at her naked. I did feel bad for the boy tribute though. People might not want to sponsor him because he came from the same place as that.

Right before us was eleven. The girl was very charismatic with the crowd. She was very pretty too. She had silky blonde hair and a white dress with a skirt part covered in flower petals. The boy looked embarrassed. He was dressed as a tree.

Then we were wheeled out and the audience began to murmur, but I'd heard it all before. Isn't it weird that two twelve year olds got reaped from the poorest district? I ignored it though. We were here to gain sponsors. I waved and blew kisses while Sage attempted to look sexy.

"Welcome tributes of the 93rd annual hunger games," President Pate announced, his voice booming into the microphone. He gave his usual speech about how the capitol's great and how it's an honor to represent your district, but I wasn't really listening, for two reasons. 1: All of the people and cameras staring at me became very overwhelming, and 2: It was boring. I pretty much just spaced off until the last sentence.

"Happy Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favor."